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Anders Fogh Rasmussen will be Nato secretary general from August and has indicated that Lars Løkke Rasmussen will succeed as prime minister
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been chosen as the next secretary general of the Nato military alliance following the weekend summit in France and Germany.
He will replace current secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, whose traditional four year term was extended to encompass the 60th anniversary celebrations of the alliance. Rasmussen will take on the post from 1 August.
At a press conference in Strasbourg a short time ago, Rasmussen said he was deeply honoured to take on the role, both on behalf of Denmark and himself.
Rasmussen highlighted the challenges facing Nato such as ‘the fight against terrorism and our important mission in Afghanistan…and I want to strengthen the cooperation between Europe and the US’.
‘As secretary general of Nato I will make a very clear outreach to the Muslim world to ensure cooperation and intensify dialogue with the Muslim world. I consider Turkey a very important ally and strategic partner and I will cooperate with them in our endeavours to ensure the best cooperation with Muslim world,’ said Rasmussen.
Doubt remained over whether Rasmussen’s would be chosen as secretary general up to the 11th hour. The complex diplomatic negotiations to select a new secretary general required all 28 Nato member countries to accept a nominee. It was feared that Turkey would veto Rasmussen due to concerns about his reputation in the Muslim world.
The 56-year-old Dane had garnered the support of the US, France, Britain and Germany over the last few weeks. In a show of visible support he was flanked by the powerful trio of Presidents Obama and Sarkozy, together with Chancellor Merkel as he entered the working dinner of heads of state yesterday evening.
A Nato spokesman said late last night that no consensus had been reached to choose a new Nato chief on Friday and de Hoop Scheffer announced that the decision was only made after intense negotiations today.
President Obama personally met for a 30 minute meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul this morning. Rasmussen also attended the meeting. Newswires are reporting that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also conducted last minute negotiations with the Turkish prime minister to ensure the choice of Rasmussen.
As late as Friday afternoon, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued to express his opposition to the choice of the Dane.Erdogan had taken a hard line against Rasmussen due to the cartoon crisis of 2006, when riots erupted across the Muslim world after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed.
Rasmussen defended the publication, calling it a free speech issue, which is protected by the constitution. He caused further dismay by refusing to meet with ambassadors from a number of Muslim countries, including Turkey.
The continued broadcast of ROJ TV from Denmark has further strained relations as the Kurdish television station has links to the militant group, the PKK. Turkey has requested that its broadcast be stopped.
‘How can we expect him to make a contribution to peace when he did not do that [accept our requests],’ said Erdogan. ‘That is a question mark. I personally cannot but regard this as a negative development.’
Turkey currently has 900 non-combatant troops in Afghanistan and takes over lead of the Nato mission in the country in August. Turkish media reports that many Muslim countries have approached Turkey voicing their concerns over Rasmussen’s choice as Nato chief.
In addition to soothing relations with the Muslim world after the cartoon controversy, Rasmussen also faces inheriting an unfinished war in Afghanistan, where the Denmark has approximately 750 soldiers serving in the Nato-led mission.
Rasmussen will also have to lead the military alliance through a world racked by economic crisis and cutbacks in defence budgets.
Rasmussen said he will skip the EU-US summit in Prague tomorrow in order to return to Denmark to ensure a smooth handover of the Prime Minister's Office to Finance Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
